Golf swing aid

ABSTRACT

Exemplary embodiments provided herein may include a method and system for indicating to a user when the user has performed an improper golf swing, including a positioning portion, and an indicating portion coupled to the positioning portion, where the indicating portion is selectively positional via the positioning portion, adjacent a user to provide an indication when the user performs an improper swing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This document is a continuation patent application which is related to,and claims priority through, U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/971,325, also entitled “Golf Swing Aid,” filed Nov. 9, 2004, which isdue to issue on May 8, 2007, as U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,139, all documentsof which are hereby, and herein, incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

The traditional concepts of a good golf swing may involve a series ofinterrelated and independent actions on the part of the golfer. While notwo golfers who possess a great amount of skill have identical golfswings, there may be certain actions involved in a good golf swing thata golfer must either do or not do. For example, golf instructors mayoften teach a right-handed golfer to keep his left arm straight duringthe back swing and through impact of the golf club with the golf ballbeing struck.

The well-executed golf swing involves hand-eye coordination as well asshoulder and head positioning. What is needed is a system, method and/ordevice for teaching a golfer proper head and shoulder positioning duringa golf swing so that a golfer may be taught, and repeat, the elements ofa fundamentally sound golf swing.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments provided herein may include a method and systemfor indicating to a user when the user has performed an improper golfswing, including a positioning portion, and an indicating portioncoupled to the positioning portion, where the indicating portion isselectively positional via the positioning portion, adjacent to a userto provide an indication when the user performs an improper swing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf swing aid according to oneexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a golf swing aid being utilized by agolfer, showing an improper backswing.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a golf swing aid being utilized by agolfer, showing proper positioning at the top of a golf swing.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a golf swing aid being utilized by agolfer, showing an improper downswing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of exemplary embodiments and isnot intended to represent the only forms in which the embodiments may beconstructed and/or utilized. The description sets forth the functionsand the sequence of steps for constructing and operating illustratedembodiments. However, it is to be understood that the same or equivalentfunctions and sequences may be accomplished by different embodimentsthat are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope ofthis disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows a system for teaching proper head and shoulder positioningduring a golf swing according to an exemplary embodiment, generally at10. System 10 may include an indicating portion 12 and a positioningportion 14. Indicating portion 12 may be coupled to positioning portion14 in many different ways, including adhesives, a sewn seam, or as oneintegral piece, or other methods and configurations, as desired.

Positioning portion 14 may include securing portion 16 which may beconfigured to couple together to affix the system to a user, as desired.Furthermore, securing portion 16 may couple directly to the shirt orclothing of a user, as desired. It will be appreciated that although ahook and loop-type securing portion is shown, many other couplingmethods and configurations may be utilized without straying from theconcepts of this disclosure.

Indicating portion 12 may be made of a plastic, metal, polymers, orother rigid or semi-rigid materials, or combinations thereof, asdesired. It will be appreciated that indicating portion 12 may also bemade of a soft foam, fabric, or other comfortable material to providefeedback to a golfer when it contacts the golfer's head and/or headarea. Positioning portion 14 may be made of elastic or stretchablefabric, spandex-type, other stretchable fabric, or other comfortablefabric, as desired. Securing portion 16 may be a hook and loop typeconfiguration, adhesive, friction coupling, or other type of method orsystem to couple the ends together.

FIG. 2 shows the system utilized by avid golfer 20 when avid golfer hasan improper backswing as shown by directional arrow “A.” In thisparticular figure, the golfer has taken the club away abruptly outsideof the target line, causing the golfer's back shoulder to move higherthan the other shoulder. As a result, the indicating portion 12 may moveand provide tactile indication of the improper head and/or shoulderposition during the swing. In this instance indicating portion 12contacts the golfer's head, thereby providing the golfer 20 with sensoryand/or tactile feedback that the takeaway/back swing is improper.

FIG. 3 shows the use of a system 10 being utilized by avid golfer 20. Inthis figure avid golfer 20 is at the top of the swing. Furthermore, avidgolfer has used a fundamentally sound swing and therefore indicatingportion 12 is not touching the golfer's head area. As shown indicatingportion 12 will not contact avid golfer 20's general head area untilafter the swing is complete. As discussed above and below, indicatingportion 12 will contact the head and/or neck area of avid golfer 20 ifan improper swing is initiated or accomplished. Again system 10 mayinclude a positioning portion 14 which may be selectably adjustable tomove the position of indicating portion 12 with respect to the head ofavid golfer 20, as desired.

FIG. 4 shows system 10 being used by an avid golfer 20. As shown in thisfigure, positioning portion 14 may be configured to be adjacent to agolfer's back shoulder (he back shoulder being the right shoulder of aright-handed golfer or the left shoulder of a left-handed golfer).Positioning portion 14 may be positioned such that indicating portion 12may be near a golfer's head. With this configuration and position, if agolfer uses the correct head and shoulder positioning during a swing,the golfer's head may not come in contact with indicating portion 12.

As shown, positioning portion 14 may be adjacent to a golfer's shoulderand securing portion 16 may secure under the golfer's opposite arm, suchthat it may be comfortable and selectively positional for eachindividual golfer, such that indicating portion 12 may be positioned atmany different locations adjacent a golfer's head. In FIG. 2 the golferhas executed an improper downswing along directional arrow “B” in thatthe right shoulder of the player is moving outside of the target line,forcing the golf club to move across the ball on an outside to insideswing path. As a result, indicating portion 12 contacts the golfer'shead and provides the golfer with sensory and/or tactile indication thatthe downswing has been improper. It will be appreciated that althoughpositioning portion 14 is shown generally covering a golfer's backshoulder, that other configurations and positions may be utilized toposition indicating portion 12 near a golfer's head to provide sensoryfeedback when the player's swing is improper. This selectivelypositional configuration may also be utilized for different size andtype of golfer such that it may be utilized for virtually any golferwith any golf swing, however unorthodox.

The device disclosed herein may be new and revolutionary in both conceptand design. The device's unique shape, size and strategic location onthe shoulder/neck may provide the player sensory feedback during correctand/or incorrect elements of a fundamentally sound golf swing. Musclememory, once developed, may be difficult to change in the absence ofregular, consistent reminders. This may be provided by exemplaryembodiments, which may be designed to provide proper feedback to thegolfer, with or without the presence of a qualified teachingprofessional.

Exemplary embodiments may provide mobility for the user, and may conformto the golfer's individual physical characteristics and stature, andnon-intrusive and non-cumbersome to use. These features of theconfiguration may make the device more appealing to users. Exemplaryembodiments may also offer the golfer opportunities to develop orimprove his/her bio-mechanical swing pattern during practice sessions onthe driving range and to reinforce them during “on course” play.

Exemplary embodiments disclosed herein may promote the proper shoulderrotation necessary to a fundamentally proper golf swing consistent withcurrent PGA (Professional Golfers' Association) teaching methods, andconsistent scoring success. Through the presence or absence of feedbackand/or indication, exemplary embodiments may encourage the properbio-mechanical swing in general, and shoulder rotation in particular, byindicating to the golfer when they lapse into the two most commonculprits of poor swings: the excessively steep backswing, in which thegolf club is drawn back with an uneven, rocker-panel shoulder motionrather than a rotation of the shoulders about the neck, and the“over-the-top” downswing, in which the club head becomes an axe bladeswinging down and over (rather than around and through) the ball andoutside the target line.

In addition, exemplary embodiments may enable golfers to trainthemselves in the “non-restricted” swing pattern employed by many maleand female golfing professionals, and others. By providing feedback tothe player, exemplary embodiments may train a golfer's head to stay inline with the center of the chest during the golf swing. This may helpeliminate another common swing error-swinging “from the top” (anothername for the “over-the-top” problem mentioned above), and maypromote/enhance the golfer's shifting his/her weight in the propersequence and at the proper time to enable the body to focus more energyinto the swing, thus releasing and directing it towards the target.

The “getting to the left,” an action, which must occur at the right timefor a more proper swing, is common to all swings, traditional andnon-restricted. When this “shift” occurs prematurely or late, the bestresult is that distance will be compromised, with other results rangingfrom slices and duck hooks to sky balls and “hosels.” While the classicPGA swing pattern stresses eye contact on the ball through point and/ortime of impact, in the “non-restricted” swing, the player does not lookat the ball at impact (the amount of time the golfer would not belooking directly at the ball from beginning of downswing until impact isless than two-tenths of a second), but rather synchronizes the head turnwith the body turn, rotating both in the direction of the targetsimultaneously. This may also promote another of golf's instructionalmandates—“let the ball get in the way of the swing”—and may eliminatesome of the elements of timing involved in squaring the clubface to theline of swing at the point of impact, because this “squaring-up” mayoccur naturally as a direct consequence of the non-restricted swing.

Whether for the classic or non-restricted swing, exemplary embodimentsdisclosed herein may allow a player to target one specific area of thegolf swing with the proper placement adjacent the shoulder. Golfers maythen hold themselves accountable to a single swing malady at a time,allowing them to address and eliminate these flaws individually, ratherthan working on everything simultaneously. Relocating the device atdifferent positions in relation to the shoulder may permit feedback inmultiple areas, putting the entire swing into context for the user

The main components of a golf swing may be universally taught andappropriate to players of all ability levels. Because the primary flawsin proper technique may be common across all ability levels, exemplaryembodiments are of potential use to every golf teaching professional inthe country as well as to every golfer interested in unmistakable andaccurate feedback as a way to improving their swing by developing musclememory consistent with fundamentally sound swing mechanics. In addition,with the growing popularity of the non-restricted swing, the increasingrecognition that it may lead to effective habits, and its specialusefulness to those with physical challenges, this device may be uniquein its adoptability to incorporate the central feature of thenon-restricted swing while adhering to the other key elements of abiomechanically correct swing, and in reinforcing it during golf rangepractice sessions as well as on the course during a round. Those withinfirmities that restrict mobility can especially benefit from themethod and the apparatus. Those with bad hips, prostheses, painful lowerbacks (perhaps due to the strain induced by the “reverse C” finishposition characteristic of many classic swings), or otherwise limitedmobility (perhaps due to excess weight), can better groove their swingsand “get to the left” more efficiently and painlessly. That is, acorrect finish position—more level and more vertical than thestill-correct-but-difficult “reverse C”—is achievable more consistentlyby a greater proportion of players.

While the exemplary embodiments have been described with regard toexemplary embodiments, it is recognized that additional variations maybe devised and/or utilized without departing from the concepts disclosedherein. In closing, it is to be understood that the embodimentsdescribed herein are illustrative of the principles of exemplaryembodiments. Other modifications that may be employed are within thescope of this disclosure. Thus, by way of example, but not oflimitation, alternative configurations may be utilized in accordancewith the teachings herein. Accordingly, the drawings and description areillustrative and not meant to be a limitation thereof.

1. A system for teaching a proper golf swing, comprising: a positioningportion; and an indicating portion operatively coupled with saidpositioning portion, wherein said indicating portion is selectivelypositional via said positioning portion, adjacent a user to provide anindication when the user performs an improper swing.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said positioning portion includes a securing portionconfigured to couple said positioning portion with a user.
 3. The systemof claim 1, wherein said indicating portion provides a tactile signal tothe user to indicate that the user has performed an improper swing. 4.The system of claim 3, wherein said indicating portion contacts the headarea of the user to provide said signal.
 5. The system of claim 1wherein said indicating portion is operatively coupled with the backshoulder of the user to indicate that the user has performed an improperswing.
 6. The system of claim 2, wherein said securing portion is hookand loop-type material.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein saidpositioning portion is configured to be adjacent to the upper body ofthe user.
 8. A method of teaching proper positioning of the head andshoulders of a user during a golf swing, comprising: providing a tactileindicator; and positioning said tactile indicator adjacent a user;coupling said system to the user; utilizing said tactile indicator toindicate to the user when the user performs an improper motion duringthe swing.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the indication to the usercomprises said tactile indicator contacting the head area of a user. 10.A system for teaching a proper golf swing, comprising: a positioningportion; and an indicating portion operatively coupled with saidpositioning portion, wherein said indicating portion is selectivelypositional via said positioning portion, adjacent the back shoulder of auser to provide an indication when the user performs an improper swing.11. The system of claim 10, wherein said positioning portion includes asecuring portion configured to couple said positioning portion to auser.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein said indicating portionprovides a tactile indication to the user.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein said indicating portion contacts the head area of a user toprovide said indication.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein saidsecuring portion is hook and loop-type material.